Picture Stories by Stephen Alvarez

Hell Hole, West Virginia

Almost 2 years ago I hung over this 150' pit in West Virgina as part of a survey team looking at how White Nose Syndrome was effecting hibernating bats. The incredible thing about this photo is not the guy hanging in in space or even the bat flying around but the capture date. It was February and there were bats flying around in the cold and snow.

The disease seemed to be spreading south and the great fear is that it will infect the large bat colonies that we have in the southern cumberland plateau. So far we haven't seen great mortality in Tennessee, but this winter is when the disease would seriously hit. Fingers are crossed here.

Stephen Alvarez

Chattanooga, TN

Works in Progress

 

One of my favorite days in January is works in progress day at NG. It is day the freelance photographers gather in the NG auditorium or a closed session to show something they have worked on in the past year. I've seen some astounding personal work there and getting ready for it is always intimidating. My contribution this year is above. 

Stephen Alvarez

Washington, DC

Canon 5D MK II set up for video

 

About a year ago I did a short post on how my 5D MK II was set up for video. As you would expect it has evolved considerably over the year so here is my set up now. As I point out on a PhotoSociety post the camera is set up intentionally so that it really won’t work well as a still camera when I am shooting video. I don’t want to be temped to try and switch back and forth between the two.
Here is the list of what is attached along with links to the stuff.

Jag35 straight rig. I like the Jag35 stuff, it is well made and reasonably priced.

D Focus kit also from JAG35. An affordable follow focus kit. If I was using cine lenses instead of Canon EOS lenses I might consider one of the more expensive kits from Red Rock Micro or Cinevate .

SmallHD DP4 electronic viewfinder. I’ve got a thing for small companies and theses folks in North Carolina make a viewfinder that does way more than I need it to. The HDMI pass through also lets me hook up an additional monitor so that clients can see what they are paying for when I am doing commercial jobs.

Tascam DR-100. I used a Zoom H4N for a long time, but the Tascam also has a line out so I can hook it to my camera and use headphones at the same time. The Tascam has a large dial to adjust the sound input so it is easier for me to adjust on the fly than the Zoom. Last year I was using a juicedlink and running sound straight to the camera only but I find the external recorder give me better sound.

Sescom -25 DB downpad cord. This attaches the Tascam to the 5D. I set the audio levels in the 5D to manual and then one click above off. This cord adjusts line level to mike level and I get ok sound in the camera. I still usually replace the camera sound in post but this makes the replacement easier.

Sennheiser EW100 wireless set. You can’t do interviews without a wireless microphone. There are many out there. I use the Sennheiser.

Rode NTG 1 shotgun. Again there are a world of shotgun mikes out there. This Rode is just good, forgiving and reliable.

Rode Dead Cat. Can’t use a shotgun outside without wind protection.

Set up this way the camera gives me good sound and beautiful video but it is somewhat complicated. There are 5 power switches to turn on. That is a lot to keep track of and it is sort of reminding me of 26 inch mountain bikes. They got increasingly complicated suspensions until someone decided to make the wheels 3 inches bigger. There has to be an easier way to do this and I think it is a dedicated video camera. Canon releases the C300 in January...

Stephen Alvarez

Earning a living, time and the Gitzo computer tray

photo by Bennet Farkas

When I first switched from film to digital I was shocked at the amount of time that digital photogrphy took out of my shooting day. Every day there was an extra 2-3 hours that I had to suddenly be renaming, downloading, backing up and captioning files. 2-3 hours out of what were already 14 hour days. That was time that I used to eat and sleep. At one NG meeting an editor said "listen I can not get that time back for you, it is gone..."

Low Light, fast lenses, new cameras?

I've spent so much time shooting with the new and innovative cameras from major electronics companies lately that I had almost forgotten the pleasure of shooting with a good old dslr and a really fast lens. The Canon 5D MK II has been with us now for almost 3 years and it is still a stunning camera in low light. With a fast lens (like the 50mm f/1.2 ) you can shoot hand held almost anywhere. As much as I love my cell phone and my micro 4/3 camera they just cannot compete with a big sensor when the sun goes down. 

Budapest Cinemagraph

I was jet lagged last night, couldn't sleep and didn't wat to resort to sleeping pills as I have to work today so instead I put together this cinemagraph. It is assembled from a 2 second 5D MK II video clip.

Stephen Alvarez

Budapest

Up from Prostitution on DSLR News shooter

A couple of weeks ago Dan Chung from DSLR News Shooter asked me to write up a post on working with NPR on the Up from Prostitution story. Well I finally wrote it and it is up today (here). 

Stephen Alvarez

Sewanee, TN

Yesterday's Storm, Sewanee Tennessee

I'm not saying that this is what yesterday's storm actually looked like blowing in, but it sure is what it felt like.

Bievre Sewer, Paris

God I am in the weeds today, swamped, subterranean. Hence the photo. I'm judging a contest tomorrow at UAH but still trying to get my talk together, and schedule a shoot in Nashville the next day and break down from yesterday's portrait session...

-Stephen Alvarez

300,000 euros, Gold Bars in the Bank of France

This is certainly the most valuable thing I have ever photographed in the underground, the gold reserves of France stored deep under Paris. There are more bars than these of course, in fact they go on and on... Each bar is worth more than 300,000 euros there are billions of euros worth of gold down there. What impressed me most was not the wealth, but just how unglamorous it was. 

It somehow reminds me of an article in the current Atlantic about wealth and happiness (here). It seems great wealth does not bring fulfillment. Only a different set of troubles.

Stephen Alvarez

Sewanee, TN